Call Ron Artest's cell phone and the greeting leaves no doubt about his intentions for the next two months.

"This is Ron Artest," it says. "I will not be available until the end of June. I will not be checking voice mail."

Artest plans to be busy with the playoffs, which could end as late as June 20.

"I'm programmed to work until (late) June," he said Friday. "There's too much going on. I think I owe it to the team. This is what I love. You have to give 100 percent."

Artest said he'll take calls at home from his mother and father, but beyond them the list of people he'll talk to is very short.

"My family knows I'm working," he said. "When I first got in the NBA, I gave a lot of my time to people. It's my turn to get some time for myself and my job."

Shade

05-01-2004, 11:24 AM

:dance:

MSA2CF

05-01-2004, 11:47 AM

:meditate:

Anthem

05-01-2004, 11:50 AM

That is great.

Suaveness

05-01-2004, 02:18 PM

He is the man. :dance:

Shade

05-01-2004, 02:44 PM

Seriously, though, I love that we finally have this attitude. I just hope we can back up the talk. :pray:

Roaming Gnome

05-01-2004, 03:19 PM

Seriously, though, I love that we finally have this attitude. I just hope we can back up the talk. :pray:

I remember during our first play-off run in '94 how some of our guys had their vacations planned for the Memorial day weekend according to NBC. Funny how a winning reputation and change in a franchises fortunes changes the attitudes of its players.